A bill keeping searches for college presidents secretive could affect Miami Dade College

Miami Dade College has been in no rush to find a new president since it scrapped the search process at its apex last year.

This might be why: A reincarnated bill to exempt from public records the searches for public university and college presidents, from the slate of applicants to meetings on their compensation packages, is gaining momentum in the Florida Legislature.

Last year, a similar bill was prompted by Tampa Bay-area Republicans as the University of South Florida tried to keep its own search under wraps. This time, as Miami Dade College restarts its search, the bill was filed by a Miami lawmaker, Sen. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah Gardens. That bill now has a House companion, something last year’s bill never got.

The House State Affairs committee filed a matching bill, which passed that committee 16-6 Thursday. It could buy the college some time to conceal its quest to find a nontraditional candidate to succeed Eduardo J. Padrón, who retired in August.

Diaz’s bill makes the case that an open search would deter “the most experienced and desirable pool of qualified applicants” because “their current positions could be jeopardized if it were to become known that they were seeking employment elsewhere,” according to the bill’s language.

The bill exempts any “identifying information” of any candidates for president of a public state college or university, and allows for meetings where candidates are vetted to be held behind closed doors. A recording of those meetings is required to be taken, though that would not be available to the public, either.

The exemption expires 21 days before a decision is made, allowing the public in on the process once there is a “final group.”

The exemption would go into effect immediately upon becoming a law. The legislative session is scheduled to end March 13, although it would still need to be signed into law by the governor — a process that could take weeks.

Miami Dade College is scheduled to meet March 26 to review its slate of candidates and decide whom to invite for first-round interviews. The new president would be selected May 19 and assume the role in July, according to the current search timeline.

The college’s board of trustees has made it no secret that it thinks the Sunshine Law hampers the search.

“The biggest impediment to the search is the Sunshine Law,” board chairman Bernie Navarro said in May 2019. The board last year created a last-minute window for dark horses to slide into a round of finalist interviews.

But in Miami Dade College’s case, it has been the “politics and publicity” of the process that has scared at least one potential applicant away. Local officials went so far as to condemn the search as rigged. Navarro has even cited the community’s lack of faith in the search process.

Every trustee except Navarro voted to end the search after four finalists made their presentations to the public in July. Vice president and provost Lenore Rodicio, the sole internal candidate remaining and the clear favorite of the board out of that crop of candidates, is in the running as a finalist in the current search.

The board has taken its time undoing work from the first search, like scrapping the minimum requirement of a doctorate for the position to lead the largest college in the nation. A “terminal degree” is now preferred.

Mike Budd, a retired Florida Atlantic University professor, spoke against the bill during the committee meeting, saying most faculty “already feel shut out” of presidential searches.

“The public, the students, everyone needs more input into this process rather than less,” he said.

Ana Ciereszko, representing the faculty union from Miami Dade College, noted that the college is in the midst of a presidential search after the new board scrapped the previous search, one that she called “consistent, transparent and fair.”

“We’re No. 1 in the nation,” she said, referencing Florida’s higher education ranking by U.S. News and World Report. “It’s not broken, therefore we should not fix it.”

Karen Morian, president of the United Faculty of Florida, said that when Colorado moved to a similarly secretive model it ended up hiring more “political insiders.”

But the majority of the committee was unmoved by the critiques.

“In today’s world, social media can destroy a person,” said Rep. Ralph Massullo, R-Lecanto. “I think you do discount those individuals who considered applying, but for whatever reason decided not to, because of the public scrutiny.”

Colleen Wright reported from Miami, and Emily L. Mahoney reported from Tallahassee.